[B]Boarding your fur baby[/B]

[LisaJ495]

In August my family and I are leaving for 2 wks for a trip in Japan. Which means I cannot take my Coco with me. I was wondering if anyone has ever boarded their yorkie??? I don't have any family or friends I can trust with her. My biggest fear if i leave her with someone, is that she will sneak outside and run away. She is also very high maintenance and i don't think a family friend could handle her, especially since she thinks the carpet is grass at night time, lol.
I'm worried she would hate me forever if i were to board her, but where i live they have kennels that have luxury rooms with a doggie bed!! Plus they have a live webcam and i could watch her play with the other doggies during their exercise times!!!
I think i would just feel safer if she is boarded...what are your thoughts???
Thank u!!

[chachi]

Originally Posted by LisaJ495

In August my family and I are leaving for 2 wks for a trip in Japan. Which means I cannot take my Coco with me. I was wondering if anyone has ever boarded their yorkie??? I don't have any family or friends I can trust with her. My biggest fear if i leave her with someone, is that she will sneak outside and run away. She is also very high maintenance and i don't think a family friend could handle her, especially since she thinks the carpet is grass at night time, lol.
I'm worried she would hate me forever if i were to board her, but where i live they have kennels that have luxury rooms with a doggie bed!! Plus they have a live webcam and i could watch her play with the other doggies during their exercise times!!!
I think i would just feel safer if she is boarded...what are your thoughts???
Thank u!!

The second yr we had ours we went on vacation we boarded ours at the groomers and they did fine. It sounds like the place you have chosen is nice so Im sure it will work out. Just make sure she is current with all her shots

[brendacolunga82]

Hi, we went on a vacation 2 weeks ago and left our 6 month baby in a boarding facility. I felt horrible leaving her. Well at this boarding facility she was attacked by a beagle. She got bitten on her head, got 2 fractures on her skull, and went into cardiac arrest. She almost didn't make it. The vets told me she had less then 10% chance of surviving; however, she has been recovering succesfully! she is my little miracle.
Having this said, I suggest that you check very carefully the reviews of the place. The place you mention sounds like a better place then where I left her. I thought I was leaving her in a secure place, but I was wrong. You should go to the facility and get a tour of the place.
I also want to mention that the dogs were in play yards during the day "Separated by size and age"; but I guess she wasn't placed with dogs her own size and age because the beagle was 5 years old. I thought that by leaving her in a place like this would be a better idea since she would not be bored all day.
I do wish I would have left her in a place where they were more in a kennel by themselves then with other dogs.
im sorry if im scaring you, but i just don't want this to happen to anyone. I felt so guilty for what happened to my baby.

[jmdt]

Oh my goodness Your poor baby girl. What a nightmare for you. You've got to be kidding me. Did they pay all of your bills?? I can't believe this happened.

Hope she is doing better now. Keeping her in my thoughts. Poor little girl!!

[SaraHawk]

oh no! I dont trust beagles anyway, a friend of mine has one, and she thought my ollie was a squirrel i guess and tried to EAT her!

anyway, good luck with boarding your baby! this place sounds great (and expensive)..... if you dont mind me asking, how much would a place like this charge? I have never boarded ollie, but we're going out of town for 6 days in Nov. Just curious..

[Mum]

we'e going to the Bahama's end of Nov
a sweet couple boards dogs in their homw. they have turned thier basement into dog heaven! they adore small dogs and our Vet raves about this couple. I went over with Abbey to see an was very impressed but now after reading this Im worried? when it comes to bedtime..the dogs sleep with them too!

[vlccairo]

I think your place sounds fine. You can always ask them for references, I suppose. I think the web cam is great and I'm going to suggest it to Samantha's kennel here.

During her training and when I was renovating the kitchen, Samantha spent several days at the kennel. They have a special small dog lounge with beds, a/c & heating, and even a television. It is staffed by a handler 24/7. I sent her food with her and she was fine. Because I am in Egypt, I have a wonderful housekeeper who stays with her when I travel.

The one time I took her to the U.S., I had to leave her with my sister's "wonderful" vet while we went to a wedding on an island that didn't allow dogs. It was only three days, but over a weekend, and when we picked her up she had lost half her body weight and her face was like deer in the headlights. I think she hardly saw a human the whole time she was there.

[nneessaa]

Why not take her to a private pet sitter who takes the dogs to their home? Many people do this with 1-2 dogs at a time, some with just small dogs. This is what I do, and all the dogs just totally relax and are right at home. They are never stressed or anything. They aren't stuck in a kennel and get plenty of exercise.

[lovelylf1]

Scooter has boarded several times before when I have had to travel for work. I take him to daycare 2 or 3 times a week because I work full time so I chose to board him at his daycare. When I leave Scooter at daycare, I know he goes out multiple times a day for play and the pen they keep him in when he is not outside is good sized. If you haven't already, go our the full facility you are considering. Ask friends nearby if they have a good recommendation. I like our vet but they would leave him in a kennel 90% of the time I was gone. He has the full run of my house now that he is trained. Can you take him in for a few days of daycare before your trip? I drop Scooter off on my way to work and pick him up after I am done. That way, your baby will get used to the staff and the way they do things. It will also give you some assurance that if something is not right about the facility, you have not eft your baby there for your entire trip.

When I board Scooter, I take his bed, a chew proof toy, a bag of his food, and a old tshirt (no buttons or anything on it) that smells like me. I have never had a bad experience at the facility I take him to now but toured 3 different facilities and did research before finally choosing it. You have to feel good about the place you take your baby. Be sure that they get a lot of small dogs so that your baby will have other dogs to play with. The facility should be sensitive to the fact tha your baby weighs around 6lbs (give or take).

It is really hard to leave your baby but if you can find a facility that you are happy with, you will enjoy your vacation so much more.

[lovelylf1]

I forgot to mention that the facility I take Scooter to does not do webcams but allows me to call anytime and get a full report on what he is doing/has done. I had two coworkers who recommended the facility to me which made me feel good about leaving him....that may make a difference for you too.

[pookiebear]

You have to trust your gut. Yeah, there are boarding horror stories out there, but if you won't trust family or friends then you have to find a really good place that you can trust . Maybe if you visit the facility often before you actually take your baby there you can see how they operate. That might make you feel better. This makes me feel really fortunate that next week my son and daughter in law are coming here to take care of my three while we go on vacation. They are familiar with the routine around here and I know things will be ok. Good luck to you in your choice.

[wantayorkie23]

I have the same problem. One of the things that im worried about is the other dogs there. When they let them out to play ow do they make sure none of the other dogs dont try to beat up my little baby???? Olso what if one of the others are sick and give him something???

[lovelylf1]

Originally Posted by wantayorkie23

I have the same problem. One of the things that im worried about is the other dogs there. When they let them out to play ow do they make sure none of the other dogs dont try to beat up my little baby???? Olso what if one of the others are sick and give him something???

The place Scooter goes requires bordetilla and all other regular shots. Scooter has been going a couple times a week for almost two years and has yet to get sick. The facility is really clean and they always seem to be cleaning.

When he is inside, he has his own pen and does not have to share with any other dog. When he goes outside, they have a rule that dogs must be within 10 pounds of each other. Since he weighs 7 pounds, he is never with a dog that weighs 20+ pounds. They guarentee that he will get a minimum of 6 30-minute playtimes a day when boarding. There are people who have horror stories about going to a boarding facility but if you research it, you can find good places. Scooter is never put in an area with big or even medium sized dogs. He is one of the smallest dogs they allow but he seems to love going. When we drive up to the facility so I can drop him off (for daycare or boarding), I can't open the door fast enough because he wants to go play so bad with all of his friends. That is how I personally know I go to a good place.

My advice, research and tour a few facilities. See how they answer your questions. Here are some ideas:
-Are the dogs kept in airline crates or pens when not ot in the yard?
-How many staffers do they have working at any one time?
-Do they make you sign a medical release so that god-forbid something happens to your baby, they can rush straight to the vet without trying to find you first?
-Are there certain odors while touring the facility (one place I looked at would make me high from the amount of bleach used...I couldn't stand it so it was knocked off my list)?
-Will they let you see ALL areas of the facility (one place told me I could only look through the windows in the back because I would "upset" the dogs)? My biggest problem with that is the reason I am boarding Scooter is I want someone else to exercise him and play with him. If you won't let me into the rooms where the pens for the dogs are, why the hell would I let my baby stay with you?!?! I couldnt be sure he was even going to see the yard.

Warning signs for a bad place will be there. I toured the facilities without Scooter so he never had a chance to see it until I found the right one.

[stovesj]

We always take ours to The Pet Hotel at Petsmart. Because it's all indoors, there is no chance of the dogs escaping. They have a playroom and separate the dogs by size and are supervised at all times while in there. Our Petsmart is very thorough about checking that all pets boarded are up to date on vaccines.

[PennysMum]

I board Penny pretty frequently with a lady who boards a small number of dogs right in her home with her. They have a big yard to play in and can sleep right on the bed with her. What really won me over was that both me and my dog had to go through an interview before we would be accepted as clients. She had both of us come over to visit her home, and while we were there we discussed Penny and what obedience courses she had taken and her behavioral quirks. She inspected Penny's vaccination and fecal check records. We then let Penny play with some of the other dogs-- a couple of big dogs and then a pair of terriers nearer to her own size. Only after all of that would the lady extend the invitation for Penny to stay.

One thing you may want to do before settling on a boarding facility is to call veterinarians in the area to check on places and ask if they have any recommendations. It is somewhat expected that every now and then a dog will get sick or injured while boarding, but if the vet and their staff are seeing a LOT of instances coming from the same facility or if the cases they see stick out as real negligence, there is something wrong.